1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cylinder cleaning device for cleaning the surfaces of various cylinders and rolls in an offset printer, and in particular, to a cylinder cleaning device, wherein the structures of cleaning fabric and of a take-up shaft assembly, for winding a waste cleaning fabric, are corruptible in consonance with changes in a diameter of the shaft, configuration and a circumference of the shaft, that can facilitate performance of a disposal process for used cleaning fabric that is wound around a shaft.
2. Related Arts
Generally, in a conventional cylinder cleaning device that uses a cleaning fabric to clean the surface of a blanket cylinder, etc., of an offset printer, the cleaning fabric is fed from a cleaning fabric supplying element that is formed into a roll, or that is reversibly folded, and is pressed against the outer circumference of the cylinder to clean it. After that, the used cleaning fabric is wound around a take-up shaft as the surface of the cylinder is cleaned. As is shown in FIG. 95, belt shaped cleaning fabric 3 that is wound around a core, or that is fan-folded, is used. To form a cleaning fabric roll, the cleaning fabric 3 is wound around a take-up shaft 6 that has on its surface multiple tiny pointed protrusions 6a. The take-up shaft assembly is proposed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Hei 5-60843. A plurality of rows of raised and recessed portions are alternately formed around this type of take-up shaft.
When cleaning fabric, from a cleaning fabric supplying element that is attached to a cylinder cleaning device is to be wound around a take-up shaft in order to prepare for cleaning, this must be performed with a cylinder cleaning device that is installed near the cylinder of a printer. Especially because a current printer is compactly made, there is only a narrow space available in which to perform the above process. In addition, without shifting the cleaning fabric on the take-up shaft while it is being wound, it is difficult to wind a wide cleaning fabric (e.g., about 170 cm for newspapers) that passes through a small gap (about 3 cm) between a cylinder surface and a cylinder cleaning device so that no loose portion appears around the take-up shaft, and so that the widthwise side edge of the cleaning fabric is aligned. That is, it is not easy to wind the cleaning fabric around the take-up shaft while keeping the side edge of the cleaning fabric perpendicular to the shaft (to maintain a right angle); how well this procedure is performed depends on the skill of an operator.
When the take-up shaft around which a used cleaning fabric is wound is removed from the cylinder cleaning device, in order to dispose of the fabric roll, the cleaning fabric must be unrolled manually. Since the used cleaning fabric holds ink, a worker tends to become dirty while unrolling it, and as the unrolled used cleaning fabric is easily contaminated and bulky, it is difficult to handle.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a cylinder cleaning device that has a cleaning fabric take-up shaft assembly that permits a take-up shaft to be easily removed from a cleaning fabric roll.
It is another object of the present invention to provide cleaning fabric that can be accurately and easily attached to a cleaning fabric take-up shaft assembly.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a waste cleaning fabric processing method whereby waste cleaning fabric can be removed from a take-up shaft and can be disposed of as a roll of the waste cleaning fabric.
According to the present invention, a cylinder cleaning device for cleaning a circumferential surface of a cylinder by pressing a cleaning fabric passed between cleaning fabric supplying element for the cleaning fabric and cleaning fabric take-up shaft assembly for taking up the cleaning fabric against the circumferential surface of the cylinder, comprises:
a frame; and
the cleaning fabric take-up shaft assembly, supported by the frame, that includes a mechanism for mechanically changing a condition where the cleaning fabric, which has been taken up around the cleaning fabric take-up shaft assembly, is in contact with the cleaning fabric take-up shaft assembly.
Preferably, the assembly has a mechanical structure for changing a diameter of the cleaning fabric take-up shaft assembly, a mechanical structure for changing a configuration of the cleaning fabric take-up shaft assembly, or a mechanical structure for changing a circumference of the cleaning fabric take-up shaft assembly.
Since provided for the take-up shaft assembly is an assembly for mechanically changing a condition at an area where the cleaning fabric take-up shaft assembly contacts the cleaning fabric that is, wound around it, its diameter can be reduced after the cleaning fabric has been wound. As a result, the winding force with which the cleaning fabric is applied to the take-up shaft is extremely reduced. Therefore, the take-up shaft can be easily removed from the cleaning fabric roll.
Since the used cleaning fabric is disposed of as a roll, operating efficiency is improved, compared with a conventional case where the used fabric must be unrolled to be disposed of and contamination of the periphery and of workers is reduced. In other words, the maintenance is improved.
When the cleaning fabric take-up shaft is constituted by a plurality of divided shaft members, the structure for changing the diameter is simplified and manufacturing costs are reduced.
For the structure where a wedge shaped member is inserted in and extracted from between the components of the take-up shaft, the diameter can be easily increased or reduced, and the increased diameter can be stably maintained.
When engagement means is provided for the cleaning fabric take-up shaft, the winding of the fabric around the take-up shaft is easy, and the winding process can be stably performed at a right angle.
For the structure for engaging cleaning fabric employing a bar member, a groove and a shaft member, a condition where a cleaning fabric roll contacts the outer periphery of the shaft member is changed by removing the bar member from the shaft member, so that the shaft member is easily removed from the cleaning fabric roll. Especially for a structure where bar members are extracted from a plurality of grooves, the condition where the fabric roll contacts the shaft member can be changed more drastically than can that where a bar member is removed from a single groove, and the removal of the shaft member becomes even easier. For a structure where a plurality of bar members are provided at predetermined intervals for a single groove, the bar members engaged at one side end are released from the shaft member, and are brought near each other by the winding force exerted by the cleaning fabric roll. As a result, the circumference of the shaft is reduced and the contact condition between the shaft member and the fabric roll is changed, so that the removal of the shaft member is easy.
When an oblong bar member is employed, after the bar member is released from the shaft member, it is rotated to reduce the circumference of the shaft, so that the shaft member can be easily removed. In addition, when a gap is defined around the bar member, the bar member is shifted to the gap when it is removed from the shaft end to reduce the circumference of the shaft, and thereafter the shaft member is easily removed.
When a long shaft is used, accordingly, the length of a bar member is increased and its removal from a cleaning fabric roll becomes more difficult. It is preferable that such a long shaft have a structure such that an engagement member is provided at the middle portion of a groove to engage the ends of the bar members on one side, or a structure such that bar members are coupled together in the groove. With such an arrangement and such an engagement member, a short bar member can be employed. As a result, the removal of the bar member is facilitated and the operation can be easily implemented from either side of the shaft.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, a cylinder cleaning device, for cleaning a circumferential surface of a cylinder by pressing a cleaning fabric passed between cleaning fabric supplying element for the cleaning fabric and cleaning fabric take-up shaft assembly for taking up the cleaning fabric against the circumferential surface of the cylinder, comprises:
a frame; and
engagement means for engaging means of the cleaning fabric to be engaged at an outer periphery or at a shaft end of the take-up shaft supported by the frame.
With the thus described arrangement, an assembly that easily engages the take-up shaft, and which has a certain strength relative to the rotational direction of the take-up shaft, is provided at a predetermined end portion, or at a location at which the cleaning fabric can be engaged, so that engaging the cleaning fabric with the take-up shaft is easily accomplished, the positioning is accurate, the attachment of the fabric around the take-up shaft can be precisely performed.
When an engagement release mechanism is provided, a phenomenon such that used cleaning fabric sticks to the take-up shaft can be prevented, and the used cleaning fabric roll can be easily removed from the take-up shaft. Especially since the engagement/disengagement function can be implemented by only one mechanism, the device can be simplified.
Reinforcement, or coating or impregnation with low friction material, or with a curing agent, is performed for the portion where the means of the cleaning fabric to be engaged is provided to prevent deformation of that portion, and engagement/disengagement can be stably performed.
The portion that contacts the outer periphery of the take-up shaft on the cleaning fabric side and/or the outer periphery of the take-up shaft are smoothed, and the used cleaning fabric can be removed from the take-up shaft and can be disposed of as a roll. Thus, the handling of the used cleaning fabric is improved.
In the structure where the engagement means is provided for the member of the cleaning fabric to be engaged, which is at the outer periphery of the take-up shaft, the member to be engaged with which the used cleaning fabric is wound is removed from the take-up shaft, and from the outside is pushed toward the center to reduce the diameter of the take-up shaft, and make it possible to remove the member to be engaged.
Further, according to the present invention, cylinder cleaning fabric is wound into a roll or is fan-folded, and has means to be engaged, which engages engagement means on a take-up shaft that is installed in a cylinder cleaning device.
Preferably, a cleaning fabric, or a connection member contiguous with the cleaning fabric, has a smooth portion that contacts an outer surface of a take-up shaft, and a hole, a slit, a cut, or a cut-out strip is formed at or near the end of the fabric.
As another method, a cleaning fabric mounting element is provided on the cleaning fabric side. The cleaning fabric mounting element is constituted by one or more bar members, or string members attached to a cleaning fabric, or to a member that is added to the cleaning fabric. Further, a cleaning fabric mounting element obtained by processing a cleaning element, or a member added to the cleaning fabric, is provided.
A cleaning fabric is easily wound around a take-up shaft by engaging the means to be engaged of the cleaning fabric with the above described engagement means, and a right angle can be stably maintained.